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Weirdest World’s Strongest Man Events

Atlas Stones

The Event: Participants have to be ready to lift five stones of increasing weight (220-352 lbs) and place them on top of five different pillars, which mercifully decrease in height. It’s a grueling test of strength, endurance and competitors’ ability to pick up huge spherical objects anyone else would need some kind of machine to pick up. The name of the event appropriately refers to the Titan Atlas from Greek mythology, who had to carry the world on his shoulders for eternity because he pissed off Zeus.

Still In Competition?: Of course this one’s still around—it’s practically the logo for the entire tournament. Like many other years, the Atlas Stones were the closing event in 2011, with American Brian Shaw becoming the World’s Strongest Man by knocking off two-time defending champion Icelander Zydrunas Savickas in the contest. As you might expect, it was just like D2: The Mighty Ducks.

Thor’s Hammer

The Event: The object of the game is to hurl a 66-pound object as high as you can, obviously. This event looks suspiciously similar to Olympic events like shot put and the hammer throw, but the World’s Strongest Man competition decided to up the ante. In fact, in more recent competitions, we’ve seen strongmen switching over to throwing multiple barrels over a bar—definitely more in line with the extreme and bizarre nature of WSM.

Still In Competition?: The event has been altered over the years to become the keg toss. It’s actually become much more impressive. Check out this clip from last year.